oppn parties RBI Is Trying Hard, But The Issue Has Escalated Beyond What It Can Do

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  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
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  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
Stock markets on fire due to US results, Sensex gains 2008 points to reach its highest level in 8 months
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RBI Is Trying Hard, But The Issue Has Escalated Beyond What It Can Do

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-04-17 19:27:46

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The RBI governor held a press conference today to announce further measure to shore up the financial system that is burdened, like the rest of the economy, by the Covid-19 crisis. He announced a slew of measures like cutting the reverse reporrate by 25 basis points to make it 3.75%, releasing Rs 50,000 crore liquidity support for NABARD (Rs 25000 crore), Sidbi (Rs 15000 crore) and National Housing Bank (Rs 10000 crore), declaring that moratorium granted on existing loans by banks will mean that they would not fall under the 90-day non-performing asset norm, bringing down the liquidity cover ratio requirement of banks from 100% to 80%, and asking banks not to make any further dividend payouts until the situation improves.

While these are all good measures that will bring additional liquidity in the market and ease the situation a bit, the economy is now tottering on the edge and these macro measures are not going to help much. It is true that reducing the reverse repo rate will make it unattractive for the banks to park their money with the RBI and they will try to lend it to businesses. But since businesses are facing tough times, new projects or additions to existing projects will not happen in a hurry. Most firms will borrow now for only working capital needs as devoid of cash, many are finding it difficult to make payments for salaries, rents and other monthly expenses.

There is no doubt that these measures will ease the pressure on the financial system, but liquidity by itself is not the panacea for the troubles being faced by companies or individuals now. As the pandemic shows no signs of abating, the RBI would do well to extend the moratorium period from 90 days to 180 days. It should also direct banks not to charge usurious rates of interest for the delay as the situation is extraordinary and beyond the control of anyone. It should be recognized that this is not willful default but one that is forced by circumstances. Despite recent measures to restart some economic activity, the economy as a whole is not likely to return to any kind of normalcy before December, if not later. The RBI should keep that in mind when it announces any further relief measures. 

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